There’s been an unmistakable theme in the local news lately.
-“Super shoppers” dispensing tips on how budget-stretched fellow San Diegans can save on groceries.
-The state stepping in with food stamp funding for people across California during the federal government shutdown.
-Philanthropic organizations increasingly teaming up with San Diego governments and nonprofits trying to soften the impact of permanent federal cuts in social safety net programs.
Those kinds of stories aren’t unique to San Diego and can be found nationwide.
Then there’s also this in the national media:
-President Donald Trump posts photos of what his gilded White House ballroom will look like, along with images of the remodel of the Lincoln bathroom, replete with gold fixtures.
-Elon Musk receives an incentive-based $1 trillion pay package from Tesla Inc.
-Trump holds a Great Gatsby-themed Halloween party at Mar-a-Lago.
Ostentatious displays aren’t exactly new, though Trump and Musk may have taken that to a new level. It’s hard to ignore the juxtaposition of this coming at a time when many people — for some time — have been feeling increasing financial pressures.
The added pain of the shutdown, which put some people out of work and others wondering if they could feed themselves, only exacerbated the situation and brought greater attention to the widening economic inequality in the United States.
Beyond that symbolism there is the administration’s efforts to seemingly punish the have-nots — and make enough Democratic senators cave on the shutdown — by refusing to fully fund Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. Trump further has threatened to penalize states that helped cover the balance of SNAP funding — and even grocery stores that gave discounts to recipients.
It’s no wonder the yearlong “affordability” theme Democrats have been pushing across the party’s political spectrum and at all levels of government seemed so successful in the November elections.
There’s great anticipation, of course, about whether Democrats can continue to capitalize on that to take over the House majority next year, as well as what Trump and Republicans will do to counter.
Trump has tried to dismiss the affordability argument as a “con job” by Democrats. There’s room to argue how much cost-of-living pressure people are feeling, but folks tend to know when they are paying more for something than they used to.
At the same time, Trump is engaging in the affordability discussion with efforts to lower some prescription drug prices, reduce monthly mortgage payments through proposed 50-year mortgages and the notion of giving a $2,000 tariff “dividend” to lower- and middle-income people. Tariffs are paid by U.S. importers who generally pass the cost on to American consumers through higher prices, according to many economists.
With so many current dynamics swirling on the affordability/inequality front, it’s easy to forget that Trump and Republicans earlier this year extended tax cuts heavily weighted toward the wealthy.
That past action may be even more relevant politically when subsidies for Affordable Care Act recipients expire soon and the next phase of Medicaid cuts kicks in. Trump and Republicans are talking about coming up with their own health care plan, which they’ve been doing for years with nothing substantive to show for it.
Whether or how much Democrats could improve things is far from certain. The affordability shoe was on the other foot during the inflation-plagued Biden administration, when voters’ concerns about the cost of living helped boost Trump to a second term last year.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, with his anti-Trump fighting words and actions, is angling to become the Democratic standard-bearer in the 2028 presidential race. But if affordability is still a defining issue that could be a liability, given the high cost of, well, pretty much everything in California during his tenure as governor.
The economy is a paradox. At some levels, it’s doing well — for some people. Just look at the stock market. Inflation, while up a bit, is relatively tame, as is unemployment. But those economic indicators don’t mean much to people struggling to make ends meet and feeling the pinch at the market almost daily.
The heat is on at the moment over the cost of living, but the economic gap has been growing for decades.
“In the past 60 years, America witnessed a massive transfer of wealth from the middle class to the wealthiest families, increasing wealth inequality,” according to the Urban Institute. “In 1963, the wealthiest families had 36 times the wealth of families in the middle of the wealth distribution. By 2022, they had 71 times the wealth of families in the middle.”
Pope Leo XIV even weighed in on the Musk pay package, using this extreme example to underscore a concerning trend not only in wealth inequality, but, he feared, values.
“If that is the only thing that has value anymore, then we’re in big trouble,” the pope said.
But in big and little ways, economic concerns have also shed light on other values.
Roman Gourmet, a pizzeria in Maplewood, N.J., gained widespread attention and praise by offering a special deal: Show your SNAP card and get two slices and a soda free.
“Roman Gourmet is always here for those in need,” said owner Vinnie Loffredo.
Said one person on the social media platform X, “This is the America I remember.”
What they said
Ron Nehring (@RonNehring), former head of the California and San Diego County Republican parties.
“The assertion ‘the left is bad so we have to ‘unify’ and let the antisemites and race-obsessed weirdos into, take over, and define the conservative movement’ is morally, philosophically and politically idiotic. No, no, no. Not now. Not ever. No.”